Saturday, February 28, 2009

Our "new" vehicle



Well, it is not the brand new Jeep Sahara I wanted, but it will have to do. Yesterday Rita and I bought a used Chevy Silverado 1500. It has 165,000 miles but is in very good condition and we only paid $2,000 for it. I hope to get a couple years and 20,000 miles out of it and I will be happy.
Scott









Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Our New Home

So I’m finally getting around to posting some pictures of our new house. If you haven’t head in November Arnie and I purchased a used modular home and had it moved to the Griepentrog family Farm. So here are some pictures:
Standing at front door looking in
Standing in Dinning area Looking into living room
Standing in Dinning area looking into the kitchen
standing in living room looking in to kitchen
Oliver's Room
Massage Room and my office.


Other then settling in we are happy to say Arnie is back to work after being laid off since thanksgiving and we are settling into a new routine.
Oliver will be two on Saturday (where dose the time go?) and he is growing big and loves to get into trouble by climbing on everything he can. He also loves to play “night night” where he and Mommy have to go lay down in his bed cover up with blankets close our eyes and snore. Other then chasing after Oliver I have been having fun doing more stamping and am hoping to have more stamping parties this year to bring in a little extra cash.

God Bless,

Katie






Monday, February 23, 2009

Married!




Well let me start by saying: Aunt Rita you are on top of things! You're one step ahead of me and got to the blog before I could. (But that's totally ok) Anyway, Brian and I did indeed get married on Friday, February 20th, 2009. Yay! Don't worry we didn't really have a "ceremony" or anything that any of you missed out on. We Eloped! We were in the process of planning something small and decided why have the slightest headache over something that's suppose to be totally enjoyable. So we surprised everyone instead. We went to a court commissioner in Burlington and had one of my best friends, Erica, and Brian's best friend, Brian, (yep I typed that right) as our "witnesses." It was very simple but that's just what we wanted. We are so completely happy and i'm now a Mrs.Storey! Woo hoo!!


Hope all is well. Love you all! :)
Love, Bren

TGIM... Thank Goodness it's Monday! ☺

Happy Monday Everybody!

For most people, Mondays are a real drag... but I love Mondays! With my E-bay business, all weekend long sales come in, so Monday mornings are spent in "Pack & Ship" mode. And it's so much fun... lots of bubble envelopes and packing tape, but oh, so much fun.

I just wanted to let you all know I just put a new post out on my jewelry blog! I was asked by a buyer of mine on e-bay to create a custom pair of earrings for her. So I did and since I was at it, I just kept on going.

Take a look, and feel free to post comments! http://designsbydawnmarie.blogspot.com/

I've found an even better site for selling the jewelry than e-bay. It's specifically created for selling things that are hand made... whether sewing, painting, cross-stitching or whatever your craft is. This online store is just for that type of thing! If you're interested, drop me an e-mail and I'll shoot you a link so you can check it out!

Lots of Love to all!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Congratulations and WHAT!?

Let me be the first to blog my congratulations to Brenda and Brian on their marriage yesterday. However, I cannot believe I learned about this through the internet. So, when, where, how, give me details and photos. Who was there? What did you wear? Will we be able to celebrate this occasion together? Where can I send a gift? What would you like? Do I still get to buy a new dress, even though I wasn't invited?

Sincerely, I wish you both all the happiness that marriage brings and a long life together. Fill us all in on the details.

God Bless your marriage and your family,
Love,
Aunt Rita

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Ashlynn Crawling

I was able to catch some video of Ashlynn crawling today. The video was taken on my phone so it is a bit choppy, but you can still see how quick she is. It won't be long and she will be walking.
Love,
Amy

Monday, February 16, 2009

Good evening all. I haven't heard from Mom or Dad since my last post but I assume that they are relaxing in Florida and laughing about our impending snow. I also wanted to share some Doucette news. Should you be watching the news in the next few days and see the send off for our 3500 National Guard troops you may see Ed's brother Paul. He will deploy with his men on Feb. 25th to Fort Bliss, Texas and then off to Iraq if plans stay the same as today. They are having a send off tomorrow Feb. 17th in Madison. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and all our troops.
Well, if anyone has heard from Mom or Dad drop a post to anything new. Thanks, Julie

Housekeeping

Jason and I have changed our phone #'s and are now just using our cell phones, e-mail us if you need the number.
Bridget

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Valentines day!


Happy Valentines Day!
Today Grandma and Grandpa spoiled me with some great sing-a-long cd's, Mommy and Daddy gave me so many kisses my cheeks are chapped, and my festive outfit came from Aunty Amy!Now I'm just hoping to get a lil lick of the heart-shaped sucker that's on the kitchen table! MMM!


Love,

Ashlynn

Happy Valentine's Day

Good Morning all our sweeties in WI, MN, FL & AZ!!! Does anybody have sweet plans for the day... breakfast in bed, box 'o chocolates, dinner and a movie... anything to share the wonderful love? We just want to wish everybody a warm, snuggly, wonderful day! I love showing the love... so next to Christmas, this is one of my favorite holidays!

Give an extra kiss, lots of extra hugs and make sure to give the cat, pups, fish or ferrets a few extra treats (they need to feel the love too!)

Love you all!
XOXOXOXOXOXO,
Dawn

Friday, February 13, 2009

Mom and Dad

Well if you ever wondered if Dad had a love of travel he sure showed it yesterday. I got a call last night from Dad that they were in St/ Louis due to missing their connecting flight to Jacksonville. I had been watching online and they were minutes from landing as their connecting flight took off. Dad said they were being put up in a hotel last night and then shuttled back to the airport this morning. They will fly to Dallas and then to Jacksonville today. I asked him if they had their luggage and he said only their carry on they left the other luggage at the airport. So then I asked him if they had their pj's(why I asked I don't know) and Dad was laughing as he said he put his in the carry on and Mom had hers in the checked luggage so Grandma was sleeping in a toga last night. So being Friday the 13th I thought I would let you know Dad the lucky leprechan was enjoying his travel adventures. He also told me he was having lunch with George and Barbara today in Dallas. I asked who are George and Barbara? He roared with laughter as he said BUSH. So he was just pulling my leg. I;m sure some of you also recieved calls. but for those who didn't I thought I would share the Adventures of Cele and Dave for your morning chuckle. So have a great day!

And we have a crawler!











That's right! Ashlynn has Figured out how to Crawl FORWARD! She has been crawling backwards for a couple weeks now but she just mastered how to actually GET somewhere. AND she's getting everywhere! In addition to crawling she learned to pull herself up and is attempting to pull herself up on anything and everything: The couch, Grandpa's leg, basket of toys, everything. She's been ever so curious and learned that the kitchen floor is slippery, she must be very quick to catch the cat, and that mom is silly enough to put all the DVDs back on the shelf after she removed them so she can remove them again! ha! It's fun and we are so excited! Hope everyone is well and Have a great day!

Love, Bren
P.S. The only books I've been reading are about 20 pages or less and have print so big i could read it from across the room. Ashlynn enjoys them tho! :-)

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Read Any Good Books Lately?

That's my question. I recently finished "Scarpetta" by Patricia Cornwell. I love this series of books. They're forensic thrillers centered around a medical examiner named Kay Scarpetta. I love murder mysteries, and this series always proves to be an "I can't put the book down" entertaining read.

Right now I'm reading "A Year of Living Biblically" by AJ Jacobs. He grew up in a secular Jewish home. As he puts it, the closest they ever got to actually practicing Judaism was to have a Star of David on top of their Christmas tree. So, he wants to find out why the Bible is so popular; could following the rules and principles in the Bible really have an impact on his life? He begins by reading many different versions of the Bible and ends up with over 700 rules he is going to attempt to follow from the all-popular 'be fruitful and multiply' and 'love thy neighbor' to the not-so-well-known 'don't wear clothing of mixed fibers' and 'wear fringes on the corners of your garments'. He has advisors from all different religions to help him in his quest and to help him understand why God would make some of these rules. Have you ever read the Bible? I 'm working on it - not done yet, but there are some really bizarre rules there, in the Old Testament especially.

AJ Jacobs' book is enlightening and at the same time laugh out loud funny. This guy really is committed to his quest, despite what his wife, family or strangers on the street say. I could just go on and on, but I won't. It's a really good book and y'all should read it. I would let you borrow mine, but I'm actually reading Kimberly's copy, and she would like me to hurry it up so she can read it.

So, please share with me. What are you reading? What have you read?

Have a Wonderful Weekend!
Love,
R

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

My Wishful Superhero Power!!!

So, if I could have any superhero power it would definitely be........
being able to be at more than one place at a time (if you know what that's called let me know, would you)
As, a busy business woman, I'd love to be able to do multiple things at the same time. I'm sure any one of you mothers can totally related as well. :)

So, for a little update for you all, since I've got a few minutes....
I recently started my new job at Jung Seed Co. back in the shipping department, checking orders. As you may remember I worked at the Jung Garden Center in Sun Prairie for almost 4 years, and left because of the lack of hours and pay. So, when the photographer, that I was working for over the summer, let me go for the winter, I called up to the Jung main office to see what they had for openings, knowing that the Randolph location would be starting to get busy with catalog/online orders and shipping. When I called Jung's I had already been unemployed for 6 weeks, and was starting to get nervous and seeing the bills climb up farther, and father. When the HR person, Gloria, said that she'd call me if anything came up, I just said ok, and didn't expect much. But, that was Friday. On Tuesday Gloria called and told me about a position open and said that I could start the next day. :| I was a little excited.
Now while this is all going on, Katie had a friend that works for The ARC (An agency "Serving Citizens With Developmental And Related Disabilities"), and has been trying to recruit me on as a staff member. I would mainly be a caregiver for three mentally disabled adults who are also in wheel chairs. Not, as hard as it sounds, I mean considering I'm pretty used to caring for six kids :) The disadvantage of this job would be that I would be a "floater". So, I would be covering any vacation hours and sick days and so on, and not have any set hours. So, now I had a choice to make.
Well, I started at Jung's since the hours were set and pay was better than the ARC. I work M-F 7am-3:30 pm (no weekends, YEAH). Which works out wonderfully since I can then schedule any photo shoots after 4 pm during the week and I have my weekends to myself.

Other than that, life is the same old, same old. I've been getting a few more calls about photo shoots so, that's exciting, and I've got a little more time to volunteer at church with the youth groups, too. Emily and I went to Green Lake a couple of weekends ago with about 50 other middle-schoolers, from 6 different churches in the Sun Prairie area. We had a wonderful time getting to know other Christians and not just Catholics, which was something we both needed.
So, with the God's grace and blessings, 2009 is off to a good start for me, and I pray that it continues to be. Thank you for all your encouragement, and support. God knows how we all need family like we've got.

God Bless,
MaryBeth

Sunday, February 1, 2009

F.Y.I.

Tomorrow is Dad's/Grandpa's birthday, like I needed to remind anyone since it is Groundhog Day. I spoke with him to day and his schedule is Church in early morning then shopping at Westgate for a while. Meet up with Phyllis for lunch and then home. So if you are looking for him that is what he said today.

Diane's Eventful January



(Bucket assesses the damages. Ken and Bucket in happier times)

Well, it's been an interesting year so far. One trip to the emergency room, one totaled car and a house without a dog. I could tell you ALL about it, but I'll try to be brief. The emergency room visit was to get some portion of broccoli salad removed from my throat. It was preventing me from swallowing. Arrived at emergency room at 4:00 2-1/2 hours in the waiting room, another 1 before being shown a room and the procedure (endoscopy) at 8:00 and home by 10:00. Quincy was super excited because I let him drive home - a whole mile - and he has no license. It was a chance I had to take. But the offending food was gone and they only want to charge me $5K for the privilege. Isn't that exciting? The prescription they gave me was only$180.00 for a 30 day supply. If I wasn't sick before the bill, it was enough to make me so. I intend to check out my options and I now have somewhat affordable health insurance which if I had had then would've been more than my deductible.

The totaled car was a result of someone rear-ending me as I was stopped at a green light waiting to turn left. I was actually rear-ended two days earlier but it was very minor so I let the guy go. But this time it wasn't an option. I kind of like the free rental car - a Ford Fusion, but I'm not sure how this is all going to work out. I obviously need a new car but I've never really enjoyed the car shopping experience. And for a while, the chiropractor is back on my schedule.

And now for the dog. Her name was Bucket and although I've never been a huge dog (pet) person, I actually grew to love Bucket and I think she liked me to in her odd way. However, she didn't get on so well with most people. Ken had rescued her when she was 4-1/2 months old. But she never really socialized too well and when Ken moved out she didn't take too well to the guy he shared a house with. Then she somehow injured her back legs. He tried to find her another home but she wasn't having it. I would've kept her but she barked incessantly when people cam over and even if I'd had the time I don't think I could've gotten her to the point of being trained enough to listen to me. So, yesterday we took her to the humane society and if there's doggie heaven that's where she is now.

The good news is Jesus loves me. And I am gainfully employed. And the car accident could've been worse. And my bathroom is majorly improved - I'll attach after pictures next time. Next job is the kitchen. And of course there are hundreds of other blessings - seen and unseen.

So I was trying to decide how many car accident's I've been in and thought maybe that should be our next poll. (By the way I think being invisible would be super cool because I am so curious about a lot of things and I could learn so much but I'm sure there's a downside like learning some things you might not want to know. Such is life.) But anyhow, the poll could be how many car accidents have you been in? a. 0 b. 1-4 c. 5-8 or d. let me get back to you on that. I think I'm in the last category 'cause it would take me some time to tally.

One last item. Dad mentioned a book to me which I'm just finishing up called "White Coat Wisdom". I got it through interlibrary loan because my local library didn't carry it. But I'd highly reccomend it. The subtitle is "Extraordinary doctors talk about what they do, how they got there and why medicine is so much more than a job". A lot of the featured doctors practice in Wisconsin but come from all over the world. Five out of five stars.

Happy February to all and Remember to Enjoy Your Day!
Diane

New Poll!

Happy Sunday morning all! It was wonderful to see many of the ladies of the family yesterday at Carissa's baby shower. Carissa, your home was so warm and inviting. I thoroughly felt right at home! :) You and Jesse should be so proud, and I know you are super excited for your little girl to be here! We're all waiting for the good news!

I just published a new poll question. This question comes from Joey! What a terrific question and one I never would have thought of. I love how Joey includes an "other" option. If you choose "other," we'd really love it if you would comment on the blog about what you would choose. You can click "Comment below" and place a comment, or log in and put a new post out there!

We can't wait to see what super power you would choose!

In the last poll, for those that don't blog because your life is seriously boring... nothing is too boring to share. Thanks to all the new bloggers that have stepped out of their comfort zone to post and share! We love you for it! If you didn't know your user name/password, I hope you got in touch with us to help you out! If not, just drop us an e-mail and we're happy to help you out!


Lots of Love to all! Make it a Super Week!